One of the top priorities on every U.S. president's agenda is education reform. This is the result of a continuing decrease in the quality of education in America. When compared to the rest of the world, the United States simply does not measure up to the educational standards of other countries. The comparison statistics may be inaccurate due to the methods in which other countries test. However, the endless resources that the U.S. has access to, should enable America to do much better despite misconstrued numbers.

There are multiple solutions to reforming education. Most traditional theories have failed to show reasonable results. It is time to take a simple, yet slightly different approach. Teachers are America's foundation and it is time to significantly raise their salaries. This does not mean raising money for education and increasing teacher's salaries by a small amount. It means giving them an increase that will improve their quality of life and allow them to better support their families.

Teacher in primary school in northern Laos

Betonwerksteinskulptur "Lehrer-Student" von Reinha...

"Teacher Appreciation" featured photo. Place unkno...

In the year 2000, the national average teacher's pay was $37,900 per year. The average hourly rate was $18.22 per hour. During this time, there were about 7.5 million teachers employed. The national hourly rate for all employees during this time was $15.80. Teachers only made approximately $2.50 more than the national average, yet they are often held responsible for the outcome of a person over a given period of time. No teacher can be expected to raise a family making $38,000 a year. This reason is causing many great teachers to further their education or find other jobs simply because it does not pay to be in education. Although teacher pay increased over this period by 3.2 percent, inflation increased 3.4 percent resulting in no gain at all.

While this is a well stuctured and clearly written essay and while I agree that teachers should be paid fairly for the very difficult work that they do, I think that the solution to the education problems in this country (and many other countries) will not be solved simplty by paying the teachers what they deserve. I think that eveyone desrves to be paid a living wage wheather they are teachers or flipping burgers. I think that what has been forgotten is that people are born with the innate ability and desire to learn but that the school system, as it is destroys that ability in most people and leaves students, who grow up to be adults, feeling powerless.

This was an eye opening and very informative paper. I enjoyed reading it and agree with the writers every comment. As an education major, I fully understand where she is coming from. Although it isn't always the money that draws us to a career, it sure helps on the final decision making.

The need for teacher salary increases is a tremendous one, and this essay gives clear and concise facts concerning the problem. One important point is the fact that new schools do not necessarily improve the quality of education that children receive. As a new student-teacher, I am beginning work in a brand new school that serves a lower economic class community. The school's facilities are some of the best in the county, offering top-notch technological opportunities; however, the students that attend the school do not realize nor appreciate the opportunities that have been made available to them. It is ultimately up to the teacher to introduce these opportunities to the students, and to show them the path to reaching their full potential. Unfortunately, teacher salary increases were not part of the budget when building the new school, and our teachers are paid approximately $10,000 less than the national yearly average. This is an excellent example of the points made by the author of this essay: "less money should be spent on the environment, and more on the educator".

Having been in Human Resources and Education, I can agree with the fact that most teachers are under-paid for the burdern of responsibility that they carry. As "part-time" parents for their students, mandated reporters for the state, confidants for the parents and educators of excellence for the district, teachers work more than their contracted hours and for much less than their contracts state.

Yet, if you plan on entering this profession or are currently in it, there should be the internal desire to educate that keeps you there. You are a teacher because you want to be.

I have to disagree with the author that money will keep teachers; it has been proven time and again in the corporate world that money is the least effective motivator. It is the building or respect and a team environment that motivates and keep employees (especially those considered under-paid). High salaries are wonderful, but the monitary hook will only remain set for so long; than the responsibilities of the job will chaff and cut the employee until the money means nothing.

Should teachers be paid equal to their counterparts in the corporate world, yes. Is money the only reason to be a teacher; take it from one, there is no way a person could survive the physical, emotional and mental stress if all they wanted was the money.

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